Antifragile by Nassim Taleb #

Really insightful book into types of systems in the world and how they behave. Specifically those that manifest “antifragile” behaviors.

What is Antifragility? #

Fragile - hurt by random variation Robust - not sensitive to anything Antifraile - hurt by lack of variation

Convexity/Concavity #

The fragile is well represented by a concave distribution - outcomes are fine most of the time, but can sometimes be catastrophic.

The antifragile is well represented by a convex distribution - outcomes are fine most of the time, but can sometimes be very good.

Theorizing vs Tinkering #

Theorizing involves making many (tested or untested) logical steps to explain a behavior. This is most effective in simple systems with little self-interaction (e.g. toy physics models). When applied to complex systems, theorizing can be fragile.

Random tinkering is done by making immediate decisions (hopefully with multiple options) in a more near-sighted way. The results of these decisions feed back into the process, hopefully stumbling the tinkerer closer to a solution. This is antifragile - your expectations are low most of the time, but sometimes you stumble onto something very groundbreaking.

Categories: Books, Understanding The World

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